Delight turns to despair for struggling artists who purchased the house
of their dreams only for it to be accidentally demolished just weeks later

A couple of struggling artists who thought they had found their dream home were distraught when it was mistakenly demolished just weeks after they bought it.

Kristine Diven, 36, and Micho ‘Detronik’ McAdow feel in love with the dilapidated two-story town house on Detroit’s east side and were delighted when they secured it for a knockdown price of $500 at a tax auction in October.

Thrilled by the crown molding, hardwood floors and fireplace mantels adorned with Pewabic tile, the couple had grand plans to restore it to former glories and move in by spring.

Kristine Diven, left, and Micho McAdow stand next to what remains of the house they purchased for $500 at a tax auction in Detroit

'Diamond in the rough': Diven estimates that the house would have been habitable once she spent $8,000 on improvements

As a first step, the pair decided to visit the house last month and board it up to protect it against vandals, but to their horror their house was gone.

The structure had been demolished by the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority as part of a program to eliminate blight near three local schools.

‘When we drove up, I thought what I was
seeing couldn't be right,’ Diven told The Detroit News. ‘In the past
(few) weeks, it's almost like being in mourning.’

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Detroit City official Karla Henderson said the house and eleven others, purchased by a local investor, were demolished by mistake.

It turns out that the houses shouldn’t have been sold at auction as they had already been slated for demolition. City and state officials have said that such mistakes are rare.

The home was demolished the day before the deed was recorded to the official buyer - Chris Xiromeritis - a friend of Diven's who had worked with her and McAdow to try to bid on multiple properties.

Diven was given a list of empty, city-owned properties with an offer that she could take one, but none have compared with her demolished house

Although the city is not responsible for the mistake, Henderson has given Diven a list of empty, city-owned properties with an offer that she can take one.

According to Diven none of the properties she has been offered are comparable to this ‘diamond in the rough,’ which she estimates would have been habitable once $8,000 had been spent on drywall, new bathtubs and window frame repairs.